Shade or curtain fixture.



No. 673,779. Patented May 7, IBM. R. W. MORGAN.

SHADE 0R CURTAIN FIXTURE.

(Application filed. June 18, 1900.)

("0 Model.)

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT WEBB MORGAN, OF YONKERS, NFJV YORK.

SHADE OR CURTAIN FlXTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,779, dated May '7, 1901.

Application filer: June 187 1900.

To all 1177mm, it inmy concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT WEBB MORGAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvementsin Shade or Ourtain Fixtures,of which the followingis a specilication.

The invention relates to improvements in curtain-fixtures; and it consists in the novel features and combinations of parts hereinaft-er described and claimed.

The invention pertains more especially to curtains having at their lower end a transverse bar whose ends run in grooves in the sides of the window-frame and are connected by cords, wires, or tapes with pulley-wheels located at or adjacent to the ends of the curtain-roller; and the objects of the invention, aside from less important considerations, are to provide a curtain which will be substantially balanced and have no tendency to descend under the weight of the lower bar or assume any position not intended for it and to provide means enabling the detachment of the curtain-bar from the cords, tapes, or wires at the sides of the curtain and the withdrawal of the lower end of the curtain outward from between the sides of the window-casing, so that the back of the curtain may be readily dusted off or cleaned, while at the same time the said cords, tapes, or wires are effectually held in rigid condition within the grooves provided for them in the said sides of the Winflow-casing.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention,which Ipresent herein, the curtain-roller is hollow and freely mounted on a central shaft, which is journaled at its ends in the opposite sides of the window-casing and carries adjacent to the ends of the said roller the pulley-wheels for the tapes or flexible connections which are secured at one end to said pulley-wheels and thence descend toward the lower end of the window-casing, where they pass around pulley-wheels, and then extend upward and carry at their ends hook-fastenings, to which the ends of the lower bar of the curtain are detachably secured and which are capable of being locked to the windowcasing when it maybe desired to withdraw the said bar from them. The pulley-wheels on Serial No. 20,6487. (No model.)

the shaft extending through the roller are rigid with said shaft, and said shaft and said roller are connected together by a spring concealed within the roller. The diameter of the pulley-wheels on the ends of the curtainroller shaft is substantially the same as the diameter of the said roller with the curtain wound thereon, wherebyas the curtain is unwound and the lower bar is suspended and pulling thereon the weight of the curtain and bar may be sustained by the then excess of leverage possessed by said pulley-wheels over said roller, with the result that the curtain will remain where placed and not run down under the weight of its lower bar.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation, partlybroken away, of a window-casing equipped with a shade or curtain and fixtures therefor constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 isa central vertical section of same on the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detached vertical longitudinal section, partly broken away, of the curtain, roller, shaft, and shaft-pulleys, the curtain being shown as wound upon the roller and the rolled curtain and roller as havinga diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the said shaft-pulleys. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detached sectional view through the lower portion of the curtain on the dotted line 4 at of Fig. 1 and shows the flexible connection at the edge of the curtain fastened to the window-casing and the curtain Withdrawn at its lower end from the said casing. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached side view of one end of the curtain-bar with the hook-fastening thereon, said fastening being in section on the dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the dotted line 6 o of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detached view of the lower end of one of the flexible connections with the hook-fastening thereon; and Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a pin to engage the hookfastening and window-casing and lock said fastening to said casing, as indicated in Fig. at, preparatory to the withdrawal of the lower end of the curtain.

In the drawings, 10 designates the windowcasing, in whose opposite sides are provided the grooves or runways 11,and between which sides is mounted in suitable bearings the shaft 12, upon which the roller 13 is freely mounted and which has rigidly secured upon itself adjacent to the ends of said roller the pulley-wheels let 14: for the tapes or other flexible connections 15, the latter at one end being secured to the said pulley-wheels 14, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, and thence passing down ward and around the pulley-wheels 16 and thence upward to the ends of the bar 17, secured to and carried by the lower end of the shade or curtain 18.

The roller 13 in its preferred form will be composed of a metal cylinder containing within its ends the sustaining-plugs 19 20, which will contain a central longitudinalapertnre to afford the proper bearings for the shaft 12. The plug 19 has secured to it one end of the coiled spring 21, whose other end is, as shown in Fig. 3, secured to the shaft 12. The roller 13 and shaft 12 are thus connected together by the spring 21, but otherwise there is no positive connection between the said roller and said shaft. The shaft 12 will be given its usual position between the sides of the window-casing, and said shaft in use will rotate with the roller 13 and pulley-wheels 14, and in addition said shaft 12 is capable under the tension of the spring 21 of keeping the flexible tapes or connections 15 taut at all times. The shade or curtain 18 is secured at one end upon the roller 13 and at its other end carries the shade or curtain bar 17, whose ends are preferably flattened and project into the grooves 11, formed in the opposite sides of the window-casing, said grooves forming a runway for the ends of the bar 17, as well as for the flexible tapes or connections 15.

The shade or curtain 18 will be of any suitable substance and extends downward from one side of the roller 13, while the flexible connections 15, also of any suitable substance, will extend downward from the opposite side of the pulley-wheels let. The combined diameter of the roller 13 and curtain wound thereupon will be about equal to the diameter of the pulley-wheels 14, as illustrated in Fig. 3, it being the purpose that the diameter of the pulley-wheels 14 shall be greater than. the roller 13 and curtain 18 after a part of the said'curtain has been unwound by being pulled downward from the roller 13, and this is one of the important features of the present invention, as will be hereinafter explained.

The tapes or flexible connections 15 have at their free end the hook-fastenings 22, the outline of which is probably more clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 7. The hook-fastenings 22 will preferably be formed of sheet metal and comprise the hooks 23 and 24, the hooks 23 passing upon the flattened ends of the bar 17, as shown in Fig. 6, said ends of said bar 17 being provided at their upper edges .with recesses 25, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, to receive the upper edges of the books 23 and prevent said hooks from slipping laterally off from the ends of said bar 17.

The hooks 24 of the fastenings 22 are only employed when it is desired to lock the tapes or flexible connections 15 preparatory to the withdrawal of the ends of the bar 17 from the fastenings 22 and the removal of the curtain or shade 18 from between the sides of the casing 10, and at such time the shade or curtain 18 will be pulled downward until said books 24 are in line with the recesses 26, formed in the sides of the casing 10, and then suitable pins 27 will be inserted laterally into said hooks 24 and said recesses 26, said pins then serving to hold the said fastenings 22 and the tapes or flexible connections 15 in position while the attendant bydrawingdownward on said shade or curtain 18 is engaged in withdrawing the bar 17 from the hooks 23 to free said bar and the lower end of the curtain from said hooks 23. This having been done, the attendant may by tilting the bar 17 on a vertical plane withdraw the ends of the said bar from the grooves 11 in the sides of the window-casing. The lower portion of the curtain will then be free of the tapes 15 and also of the window-casing and may be moved outward in a direction from the window and its outer surface conveniently dusted and cleansed, which is a desirble consideration. During the dusting and cleansing of the outer side of the curtain or shade 18 the pins 27 keep the tapes or flexible connectious 15, as well as the hook-fastenings 22, in rigid position Within the grooves 11, and after the shade or curtain 18 has been dusted and cleansed the attendant will restore said shade or curtain to its original position by again introducing the ends of the bar 17 into the vertical grooves 11 at a point below the hook-fasteuings 22 and then move said bar upward, so that its ends will again enter the hooks 23 of said fastenings 22. The attendant will thereupon withdraw the pins 27 from the books 24 and recesses 26, the curtain or shade 18, with its parts or fixtures, being thus restored to its original condition.

In the employment of the invention the curtain may be raised or lowered at will by simply pushing upward or pulling downward on the lower bar 17,- and whenever the curtain is moved either upward or downward the tapes 15 will have a corresponding movement, since the moving upward of the curtain results in an upward pull on the lower ends of the tapes 15 and a corresponding unwinding action of the pulley-wheels 14, and the moving downward of said curtain effects an unwinding action of the curtain-roller 13 and the rotation of the pulley-wheels 14 to Wind up the tapes 15.

The spring 21 will keep the tapes 15 taut at all times and also preserve the engagement of the lower ends of said tapes or the hook-fasteniugs thereon with the ends of the bar 17,

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said spring keeping the tapes 15 under a constant tension or pull against said bar 17, and thereby permitting of the employment of hook-fastenings 22 with open lower ends to admit and enable the convenient withdrawal of the ends of the bar 17.

An important feature of the invention is the fact that the diameter of the pulley wheels 14 is substantially greater than the diameter of the curtain -roller before the curtain is wound thereon, since by reason thereof the leverage of the wheels 14 is enabled to maintain the curtain and bar 17 in any position that may be given to them during the raising and lowering of the curtain, the said leverage in its relation to the leverage of the roller 13 increasing the curtain is pulled downward and decreasing as the curtain is moved upward. When the curtain is in a lower position, its weight and the weight of the bar 17 exert considerable force in a downward direction, and this force is overcome or balanced by the leverage of the wheels 14, with the result that the curtain is placed under absolute control, moves easily and evenly,and remains where placed. The placing of the curtain under full control is aided by the spring 21, which keeps the tapes l5 taut; but it is the combination of the spring acting against the tapes, with the wheels 14 of greater diameter than the diameter of the bare roller 13, which results in the eifectuation of one of the main objects of the invention. I show only one spring 21 for acting on the tapes 15, and one spring is enough for this purpose; but should it be desired to do so a spring 21 may be used at each end of the roller 13.

The operation of the features comprising my invention may probably be best understood by a consideration of Fig. 2, in which the curtain is shown as having been pulled about two-thirds of the way down and in which also it may be clearly seen that the radius of the roller 13 is materially less than the radius of the wheels 14. The radius of the roller 13 and the radius of the wheels 14 combined may be considered as one lever having as its fulcrum the axis of said roller and wheels. The unrolled portion of the curtain 18 and the bar 17 represent when moved up or down the variable power and are to be maintained in the different positions governed by the extent the curtain may be unrolled, and this power, while increasing as the curtain is pulled downward, moves inward toward the fulc um, the end of the said lever adjoining the curtain thus becoming shorter as the curtain is unrolled. While the curtain is being unrolled from the front side of the roller 13, the tapes 15 are gradually wound upon the wheels 14 at the rear'side thereof,

. with the result that the radius of said Wheels is gradually lengthened, due to the increasing diameter of said wheels with the tapes wound thereon, and thereby rendered more powerful, acting with the spring 21 to resist the unwinding of the curtain, it being understood that the roller 13 and wheels 14 turn in the same direction during the lowering of the curtain substantially the same as though they formed an integral drum. The wheels 14 have an initial radius greater than that of the bare roller 13, and this radius increases in length as the tapes are wound thereon during the lowering of the curtain and the reduction in the radius of the roller 13 and decreases in length as the tapes are unwound therefrom, and the curtain is wound upon the roller 13 and increases the radius of said roller. The wheels 14 and roller 13, having their diameters proportioned with respect to each other in the manner hereinbefore explained, operate in conjunction with the spring, whose tension represents (in the presence of the special leverage hereinbefore described) the weight or load to be overcome and operates with sufficient force to counterbalance the bar 17 and unrolled portion of the curtain, the said spring acting on the tapes 15, which act on the wheels 14 at a greater distance from the fulcrum or axis of said wheels than the curtain and its bar 17 are removed from said fulcrum. Thus the fulcrum of the lever may be said to remain constant, while the power increases or lessens as the curtain is moved downward or upward, and the weight or load while constant increases as the power increases and decreases as the power decreases, this variation of Weight or load being due to the variation in. the length of the lever during the winding and unwinding of the curtain and .tapes. The combined operation of the spring tension on the tapes and the difference between the radius of the roller 13 and the radius of the wheels 14 is to counterbalance the bar 17 and unrolled portion of the curtain, whereby the bar 17 will remain where placed and all nocessity for using brake attachments to resist the gravity of the bar 17 is obviated.

The pulley-wheels 16 are convenient guides for the tapes 15; but it is evident that if said wheels were simply rigid pins or studs, as they would be if they did not rotate, the invention would still be present.

The utility of the hook-fastenings 22 will be sufficiently understood from the description hereinbefore presented, and a further explanation of their operation is unnecessary.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a curtain-fixture, the curtain, the roller therefor and the shaft supportingsaid roller and having its ends projected from the ends of same and mounted in bearings, com bined with the spring connecting said shaft and roller, the pulley-wheels on the end of said shaft, the bar at the free end of the curtain, the guides at the lower end of the window-casing and the flexible connections secured at one end to said wheels and thence after passing over said guides, secured to saidbar, the diameter of said pulley-wheels being materially greater than the diameter of said IIO roller before the curtain is Wound thereon; substantially as set forth.

2. In a curtain-fixture, the roller, the curtain connected therewith, and the shaft supporting said roller in fixed bearings, combined with the pulley-Wheels 14 adjacent to the ends of said roller and being of greater diameter than the diameter of said roller, the bar at the end of the curtain, the flexible connections intermediate said wheels and said bar, and means for keeping said connections under a yielding tension; substantially as set forth.

3. In a curtain-fixture, the roller, the curtain, and the pulley-Wheels adjacent to the ends of said roller, combined with the bar at the free end of said curtain, the flexible connections secured at one end to said pulleywheels, and the fastening's at the other end of said connections for detachably engaging the ends of said bar; substantiallyas set forth.

4. In a curtain-fixture, the roller, the curtain, and the pulley-Wheels adjacent to the ends of said roller, combined with the bar at the free end of said curtain, the flexible connections secured at one end to said pulley wheels, and the hook-fastenings 22 at the other end of said connections for engaging the ends of said bar; substantially as set forth.

5. In a curtain-fixture, the roller, the curtain, and the pulley-wheels adjacent to the ends of said roller, combined With the bar at the free end of said curtain, the flexible connections secured at one end to said pulleywheels,the wind ow-casin g having the recesses 26, the fastenings 22 at the other end of said connections for detachably engaging the ends of said bar, and the pins 27 for engaging said fastenings, and said recesses when the said bar is to be withdrawn from said fasteniugs and the lower end of said curtain freed; substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 15th day of June, A. D. 1900.

ROBERT WEBB MORGAN.

Witnesses:

CHAS. C. GILL, GUNDER GUNDERsoN. 

